Abstract
In this paper, we focused on the reuse project of the High Line, a former railroad viaduct converted into a public open space in New York City. We addressed the acquisition process of the High Line by the City of New York, and the role that a federal program called “railbanking” played. With regard to actual issues concerning procedures and the effectiveness of railbanking in the context of reuse, we demonstrate that: (1) While owners of the land under or adjacent to the High Line proposed its abandonment to the federal government and opposed its reuse, the city filed a trail use request for railbanking the High Line with the government. This switched the focus of the arguments. Thus, the city was offered the opportunity to negotiate and come to a consensus with the landowners. (2) As a result of the legal rules surrounding railbanking, the High Line has been positioned as a trail, and as such, acts as a traffic route. Therefore, the city had the advantage of obtaining federal transportation grants. Furthermore, the city established a contractual agreement with a railroad to ease design conditions in exchange for financially supporting the restoration of a future rail service on the High Line. This has enabled this creative design to move forward.
